Children can be baptised, puppies cannot. Children can up the hours and be counted. Puppies cannot.
Wait till they grow up and get their own mind and their own conscience, THEN shun them if they don't conform. Easy peasey. As good as dead.
i was listening to a circuit overseer's talk and he mentioned about how a sister wanted to simplify.
she had a couple of dogs.
then he related that she said that all she had to do was get rid of the dogs.
Children can be baptised, puppies cannot. Children can up the hours and be counted. Puppies cannot.
Wait till they grow up and get their own mind and their own conscience, THEN shun them if they don't conform. Easy peasey. As good as dead.
it was a long time coming for me.....when i read about the extened generations, after being raised on1914 being the be all end all, and millions would never die....that was the end.
i was part of the 1975 fiasco, the 6 month only truth book studies, suffered through a disifellowshipping and their version of a rewind.
i finally am free and hope others can eventually look in instead of inside looking out!
Lots of moments, but realizing that in the end, it didn't matter how much evidence one has about the WT, that the argument is that (basically) "its the lesser of the evils" (Look how much WORSE everyone else in Christendom is!!).
Really, that's all you really got, folks? Cause ultimately, it IS all they have when they know and they choose to stay. My mom is that person. She can't see what any person in the world does that's good because she decided already that they are wicked and evil for not being a JW-and don't confuse her with any pesky facts! She decided. Thats that.
Any person who thinks religious affiliation is gonna save them is nuts. No matter the religion. I am a person of faith,but I do not discount goodness where I find it as being un-noticed by God simply because they don't address God the way that I do.
yes.. peterborough city center u.k. ''what does the bible really teach'' displayed on it.. a family of 3 i know were sitting on the bench just behind it.
i'm not going to say anything derogatory about them as they are nice folks even if they have to shun me now i bear no malice.. as predicted not a single person was paying any attention as they walked by.
i noticed some other canvassers (non religious), were actively approaching people and handing out leaflets.. on the market i saw the jw charity stall and again not a single soul was interested or even near it.. i'm glad this 'urgent never to be repeated work(tm)' is being vigorously carried out by god's chosen people.
Whenever I see pictures of the trolleys, they only seem to have a lot of copies of one magazine on them. Maybe 2, honestly, it looks pretty boring in any case. NOT like there is a lot of reading choices. Perhaps that is simply the choice of the cart witnesser.
being my 1st post i figured i should relate a personal experience.
a few months ago i decided to stop reporting time.
i'm mentally out of this cult now but still trapped because of family.
Welcome. I wish they would stop pussyfooting around. Its taking forever. How did it end?
imagine a nation like the usa with a population of 650,000,000 jammed into the same geographical area.
that vision allows us to see what may be the future in contemporary china.
particularly so, as there are another 650,000,000 ready/wanting to move into that same vision.
It looks a little overwhelming to me.
How many JWs in Shanghai, anyway?
i've noted a few people aluding to a rumour that there will be a "big announcement"(tm) that will "shock some"(tm) later this year, probably around agm time.. in the interests of pointless speculation, what might this be?
i am sure we can all think of some outlandish possibilities but i am interested in what could have some possibility of actually happening.. for example,.
- sisters able to do some aspects of ms roles.. - regional conventions (nee.
I'd kind of like them to close the doors on the "ark". Let's fish or cut bait, people. Lets lose all excuses for mealymouthed 2 faced teachings that just piss me off. I'm sick of reading their sorry excuses and justifications for their false prophecies.
The thing is, they could totally spew some stupid day or teaching that turns off a bunch and is not anything that could be doubted-something totally whacked and wrong and proven to be so-but JWs will still go along with the program, just as they have been doing since the 60's! THAT makes me nuts. I know there is NOT ONE THING that they could say or do that would jolt my mom out of her slavery to the org.
first off - for those lurkers who feel guilty just for being on this site and reading this (even if you don't read any further, as it is your right to choose that course) i want you to know that you're not alone in what you're going through or in what you are feeling.
if you read on, i hope my experience may be of some small help to you.. this may be long, but i'll try to organize it in a way that doesn't make it painful to read.
to start, i feel it is most beneficial if i'm upfront and honest with my goals from posting this, which are (in order of the degree to which they motivated me):.
I was with you until you got to the point (thinking in a JW-y kind of way)where you show her the discrepancy and ask her "doesn't it seem dishonest"?
You are already on thin ice there. I'd leave it less loaded. "Why do you think that the organization would misquote this so badly? It is a distortion of what Darwin said!" Do this after you have clearly just SHOWN her the difference for herself.
Then you are being factual, not judging them or accusing them. I don't think you should pussyfoot around the issue, but be delicate about the approach or you will turn her away before she even reads the quote. Instead of you deciding it is dishonest, you are opening the way for her to think about what reasons the WT would have to distort the words of a scientist of Darwin's caliber to make their point. She will consider whether it could be an honest mistake. . . and as it won't be the only example (maybe you should have a big pile of them before you ask the distortion question)she will really have to reject the honest mistake theory.
i have two more dates this week.
keeping track of who is who and showing them a "genuine" interest has been fun to say the least.
i can prepare for each "return visit" in advance and take notes after each date.. so is this ethical?.
Watch out for the guys that kind of lure you into a email/IM 'relationship' where you are communicating and chatting regularly that have jobs thaat involve travel. Some will waste your time for months to build trust and then be traveling somewhere (often with a child) and then claim some financial calamity asking or hoping for help.
Talk to people even if you like non verbal forms of communication. Get a local number, query about places they should be familiar with in your region. There are some elaborate cons used by those who have too many inconveniences to meet in person right away. I never fell for it to the point of it costing me money, but I wasted some time. Also-anyone that is too good to be true needs a lot of extra scrutiny. Accents-while we live in in international and well traveled world be aware that plenty of french accents come from other places altogether (for example).
If they are claiming to be local and can't get it together for a cuppa, then drop them fast. 90% are bad and the 10% that might be authenticly too busy are too busy to be on a dating site if they can't get a cuppa.
Been there, done that.
GOOD NEWS, there are nice folks out there that are just lonely and looking like you. Some have some baggage and history (as do we!) so try to keep your heart open and your brain light turned on!
i just compared the latest data provided by the german wt and data i found searching for the same page in archive.org.
congregations 2011: 2232. congregations 2014: 2210. kh 2011: 1075. kh 2014: 1034. source: http://www.jehovaszeugen.de/statistik.18.0.html - this is a oficial site for germany.
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Good news to make you happy!
I wonder how this is reflected on a more worldwide scale. You know how the yearbook has its little bit of info on each country? It would be interesting to see what happened in the rest of the world when they lost all those congs and halls in Germany. Wonder what happened to the people in those halls? What did they DO with all the halls that they don't have anymore?
i have a sweet jw friend.
she is elderly and had heart problems and is hard of hearing.. she is a tiny thing and very loving.
she is a convert and had been "in" for around 20 years.. she came "in "after her divorce.. we started hanging out together a couple years ago when i called her for a ride to the meetings.. .
Whenever two or more are gathered together. . . !